Wringer



Aug. 30,1927. ,627

L. SWENINGSON WRINGER Filed April 24. 1925 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Aug. 30, 1927.

L; SWENINGSON WRINGER Filed April 24. 1925 s Sheots-Shee t' 2 Aug. 30. 1927;

L. SWENINGSON WRINGER Filed April 24. 1925" 3 Sheets-Sheet'S Patented Aug. 30, 192 7 UNITED STATES ATENT OFFICE.

LOUIS SWENINGSON, OF CLEVELAND, OHIO.

WRINGE-R.

Application filed April 24,

' to the other through the medium of a hand lever so that normally the rolls will be separated and inoperative to permit the washed articles to be easily inserted therebetween whereupon the hand lever may be depressed to engage the rolls to cause them to operate under spring tension in the usual manner. This arrangement in addition to facilitating the entrance of the washed articles between I the rolls also provides a safety type of wringer as during such time that thearticles are being entered, the rolls are inoperative'and hence there is no danger of the fingers being caught therebetween." Furthermore if during. operation the handis acc dentally caught between the rolls, the natural instinct is to release the hand lever whereupon the rolls will immediately separate and permit the hand to be withdrawn. WVith these and other objects in view, the invention consists inthe-various novel fea:. tures of construction and arrangement or combination, all of which will befully described hereinafter and pointed out in the appended claims.

In the drawings accompanying and forming apart of this application, Fig. 1 is a: top plan view of l a washing machine equipped with a wringer constructed in accordance with my invention; Fig. 2 1S a rear elevation of the wringer; Figs. 3 and 4 are vertical sectional views taken respectively on the lines 3+-3 and4-4 of Fig. 2; Fig. 5 is a side elevation of the wringer' gear case; andFig. -6 isa vertical sectional view taken on the line 66 of Fig; 5. Fig. '7' is a vertical sectional view similar :to Fig. 3' but on a larger scale showing the parts as theywill appear witha comparatively thin garment inserted between the rolls; and Fig. 8 is a' view similar to Fig. 7 with the parts shown in an extreme position with a very thick garment inserted between the rolls.

Describing the various parts by reference 1925. se i l- N 25,482. 1

characters, l .den0tes generally a washing machine having ,a hinged cover 2 upon which is mounted an electric drive unit 3. This drive unit is provided with a clutch member 4 which is'adapted toalign with the wringer drive shaft ,5, when the cover of the machine is raised.

The wringer consists essentially of two end brackets 7 arranged in spaced relation andfeach provided with. an inverted U- shaped recess 8 and a clamp screw 9 threaded through one of the legs defining said recess. Each bracket is also provided with an antifriction bearing 10 which rot-atably supportsthe lower wringer roll 11, a guide lug 12 fora purpose to be referred to hereinafter, and an elongated opening 13 which receives the ends of a hand lever operating shaft 14. V A pair of sub-bracket's'lG in spaced relation are rotatablyconnected to also arranged shaft 14 adjacent the ends thereof. These brackets each carry an antifriction bearing 17 which rotatably supports the upper wringer roll 18, and each sub-bracket is also formed with an arcuate projection 19 which is preferably arranged slightly eccentric with respect to the longitudinal axis of shaft 14 about which the assembly is adapted to rock." The arcuate projections 19 are each. 55 adapted to engage beneath its respective lug 12 on the main brackets 7 and due tothe p I aforementioned eccentricity of projections '19, the upper roll assembly may be rocked about the longitudinal axis ofshaft 14 to cause the wringer rolls to engage. The top portionpof each sub-bracket is also provided with-a recess which is z -idapted to receive the end of a flat spring assemblyQQ, A.

,metal strap 23, having an adjusting screw 24 threaded therein is arranged about the 'centralportion of springs QQ-and is connected to shaft 14' by a strap metal collar 25 pinned to the shaft and having the free end thereof engaged in an aperture in the depending end of strap 23. The washed arti cles are placed between the rolls and the lever 30-is depressed which rocks the upper roll unit about shaft 14 as an axis. When thelever3O is'depressed theshaft 14 is rotated and the collar 25, which is keyed to the shaft 14 '(see Fig.4) pulls downwardly on strap 23 which in turn tends to rotate ets 16. The roll 18 is moved to the position shown in Fig. 7 and the shaft 14 rides upwardly in the elongated slots 13 a short distance depending upon the thickness of the garment between the rolls. The lugs 12 engage the projections 19 on the roll 18 and tend to hold the roll in the position shown:

in Fig. 7 and at the same time permit the rolls to be separated against the tension of springs 22 should a thick garment be passed between the rolls. This arrangement provides a resilient mounting for the upper wringer roll which may be varied byadjusting screw 24: to increase or decrease the tension of springs 22. The springs 22 are maintained under slight tension when the wringer rolls are separated by pins 27 in shaft 14 engaging suitable shoulders 28 formed on sub-brackets 16 as shown in Fig. 1. The projections 19 being arranged eccentric to the longitudinal aXis of the roll 14 it will be clear that the lugs 12 engage the projections 19 as shown in Fig. 7 and temporarily hold the rolls in the position shown in this figure and when a thick garment is inserted between the rolls the shaft 1 1 being loosely mounted allows the rolls to be separated against the tension of spring 22. One end of shaftla is fitted with a hand operating lever 30, while the opposite end of said shaft is provided with a collar 31 keyed thereto-and formed with a shoulder 32 which is adapted to engage one end of a lever 33.

Lover 33 is pivoted at 3 1 to a gear housing 35 and the opposite end of this lever is positioned in contact with the end of drive shaft 5, A spiral gear 36 is splined on shaft 5 and meshes with a spiral gear 37 arranged at right angles thereto and mounted on the end of lower wringer roll shaft 38. The gears 36 and 37 are enclosed by the aforementioned housing 35. A pinion 39 mounted on shaft 38 meshes with a similar pinion l0 carried by the upper wringer roll shaft and forms a drive for both wringer rolls.

In the present instance, the wringer is shown detachably clamped to a suitable up right 11 on the washing machine although it will be understood that this fastening could be made permanent if so desired. The drive shaft 5 is rotatably supported adjacent the drive end thereof on a bracket 12 fastened to the washing machine and a spring 43 interposed between a collar 44L on the shaft and bracket 4-2, normally maintains the rolls l1. and 18out of contact.

In operation, the washing operation hav ing been completed, the cover 2 is raised causing clutch l to align with drive shaft 5. The operator then enters the washed articles between the normally separated rolls 11 and 18. Due to the fact that these rolls are not revolving there is no danger of the operator being injured. After the articles are entered, the hand lever 30 is depressed which shoulder-'32 on; collar 31 to engage lever 33 and rock the same about pivot 34 thereby forcing drive shaft 5 longitudinally against the tension of spring 13 and engage pin 45 in the end of shaft 5 in clutch membera. Rotation of clutch memberl is thustrans mitted through shaft'5, gears 36 and 37, lower wringerroll shaft 38 and through pinions 39 and 10 tothe upper wringer roll, thereby rotating said rolls in opposite directions. During the time that hand lever 30 is depressed the upper wringer roll will be held in yielding relation, to the lower wringor roll against the tension of springs 22, hence any variation in thickness of the articles passing between the rolls will be taken care of. After the wringing operation is complete, the hand lever 30 is released and spring 43 returns the parts to normal inoperative position, such movementbeing limited by pins27 engaging shoulders 28 as previously described.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is- 1. A. wringer comprising a pair of supports, a roll journaled between said supports, a rod journaled in said supports, a pair of brackets carried'by said rod, a roll journaled between said brackets, means for rotatingsaid rod to move the last mentioned roll toward the first mentioned roll, spring means connected with said brackets and rod for providing a resilient support for said last mentioned .roll, and means for rotating said rolls. V V

2. A wringer comprising a pair of supports, a roll journaled between said supports, a rod journaled in said supports, a

for providing a resilient support for said" last mentioned roll, means for rotating said rod to move said brackets and the roll carried thereby into operative relation to the first mentioned roll, and means for rotating said rolls.

4. A wringer comprising a pair of supports, a roll ournaled between said supports, a rod journaled in said supports, a pair of brackets carried by said rod, a roll ournaled between said brackets, spring means connect ed with said rod and brackets for providing a resilient support for the last mentioned roll, means tor-rotating said rod to move said brackets and the roll carried thereby into operative relation to the first mentioned roll, and means rendered operative by movement of said rod for rotating said rolls.

5. A wringer comprising a pair of supports, a roll journaled between said supports, a rod loosely mounted in said supports, a pair or" brackets carried by said rod. a roll journaled in said brackets, a spring engaging at each end with said brackets, adjustable means connected to said rod and to the central portion of said spring, a lever connected to said rod for rotating said brackets and the roll carried thereby about the longitudnial axis of said rod, and means for rotating said rolls.

6. A wringer comprising a pair of supports, a roll journaled between said supports,-

a rod loosely mounted in said supports, a pair of brackets carried by said rod,a roll journaled in said brackets, spring means connected with said brackets and said rod for providing a resilient support for said last mentioned roll, said brackets and elements carried thereby being movable about said rod as an axis, means for limiting such movement, and means rendered operative by movement of said brackets and elements carried thereby toward the first mentioned roll for rotating each of said rolls.

7. A wringer of the class described including a driving mechanism, a pair of supports, a roll journaled in said pair of supports, a rod journaled in said supportspa pair of brackets carried by said rod, a second roll journaled in saidpair of" brackets, means for moving one of said rolls into operative engagement with the other and means rendered operative by such movement for connecting said rolls with the driving -mechanism. c

8. A wringer of the class described including a driving mechanism, a pair of supports, a: roll journaled in said pair of supports, a rod loosely journaled in said pair of supports, a pair of brackets carried by said rod and having a roll journaled therein, means for rotating said brackets and roll carried means for connecting said rolls with the driving mechanism.

9. A wring-er comprising a pair of supports, a roll journaled in said supports, a rod loosely mounted in said supports, a pair of brackets carried by said rod, a roll between said brackets, said bracketsbeing movable'about said rod as an axis and means carried by said rod for moving said last mentioned roll into operative relation to said first mentioned roll. y

1O. A device as set forth in claim 9 having a power unit and means rendered operative by the movement of said rod for connecting said rolls with the power unit.

11. A wringer comprising a pair of supports, a roll journaled in said supports, a'rod journaled in a pair of elongated openings in said supports, a pair of brackets carried by said rod, a roll journaled in said brackets, means for rotating said rod to move the last mentioned roll toward the first mentioned roll.

12. A device as set forth in claim '11 having means rendered operative by movement of said rod for rotating said rolls. a

13. A wringer of the class described comprising a pair of supports, a roll journaled in said pair of supports, a rod loosely j ournaled in said pair of supports and spaced a slight distance from said roll, a pair of brackets carried by said rod, a second roll journaled in said pair of brackets, said brackets being provided with one or more curved pro ections, one or more lugs on said I support arranged to. be engaged by said curved projections, means for rotating said brackets and roll carried thereby about the axis of said rod, the curvature of said protions being eccentric with respect to the longitudinal axis of saidrod, means for moving said last mentioned roll about the axis of said rod andmea'ns for driving saidrolls. In testimony whereof, I hereunto afiix my signature.

LOUIS SWENINGSON. 

